Adopting green technology in Southeast Asia is vital to decarbonising the region, safeguarding the environment, and protecting people's health. According to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report in 2022, there will be an increase in demand for fossil fuels, but the supply will fall short of the required capacity. Green energy can deliver affordable access to clean power sources, reduce emissions, and ensure continued supply for everyone.
Andrea Meza Murillo, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), said climate change harms the planet through droughts, floods, heat waves, and other extreme weather incidents. Thus, the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources in Southeast Asia has become essential for the area's survival.
Decarbonising in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) matters because emissions enter the atmosphere and warm the planet, disrupting plant and animal ecosystems. In turn, these interfere with food security, creating starvation and malnutrition, leading to more significant health concerns. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) pollute the air, causing citizens to suffer from respiratory illnesses.
Greentech solutions benefiting Southeast Asia
Green technology can facilitate the transition from non-renewable to cleaner energy sources. ASEAN has excellent sources of raw materials like nickel, a significant component in manufacturing eco-friendly solutions.
For example, electric vehicles (EVs) are bringing sustainable transport to the region and are gaining popularity due to government subsidies lowering prices, environmental consciousness, and a tech-savvy population. As we previously noted, revenue in the EV technology market will reach USD 1,510 million in 2024 and grow annually by 5.51% to USD 1,871 million in 2028.
Several startups tackling urban climate challenges include:
- Indonesian company Fairatmos, which facilitates carbon offsetting
- AI-powered Unravel Carbon, which helps companies track and reduce emissions
- Singapore's SunGreenH2 is famed for green hydrogen production.
Greentech is innovative and enables ASEAN stakeholders to create jobs, hire talented tech workers, and boost economic growth. As they share these solutions, they can address other crucial problems, such as the limited land space available for farming. They can introduce technologies to facilitate vertical farming, which conserves space, protects soil, reduces pollution from fertilisers, and better manages resources like water.
Some trash management solutions have emerged to combat the region's increased garbage and poor disposal. One is waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies, which power homes by incinerating discarded items to create energy. The other is forest and agricultural waste, which helps to make valuable biomass as a renewable source.
Barriers to widespread adoption of green technologies in ASEAN
Adopting green technologies is not as straightforward as one would expect. For instance, ASEAN uses a lot of coal as a power source, accounting for 40% of the energy generated in the region. The hope was that Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) would be a cost-effective solution with fewer GHG emissions. However, the war between Russia and Ukraine disrupted supply chains and increased prices.
Policy-related challenges always affect program promotion. Greentech needs more legal protections, guidance, and steps forward for the industry.
Consultancy firm Bain & Co said Southeast Asia is "woefully off track" on green investments. Researchers believed that leaders needed to come up with creative financing options to raise more money. Funding could be better, but investors are wary of issues like lower financial returns, difficulty in exiting deals after an extended period, and the complexity of measuring the impact of investments on the environment.
New tech costs remain high, and the infrastructure still needs to improve, especially when comparing rural and urban areas. Startups need support to afford the technologies, but they also require skilled workers to utilise them.
Fast-growing economies create a lot of electronic waste (eWaste) and trash. Population overload, with more people confined to smaller areas, brings more pollution, and the infrastructure needs to be adequate to cope with the garbage generated.
Going green in ASEAN
Columbia University's report says that every aspect of the economy must change to achieve decarbonisation. That means new ideas in land management practices, energy generation, and producing and delivering goods and services. They can also focus on eliminating energy waste in buildings, using sustainable materials for construction, and tracking decarbonisation measures.
According to Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), Southeast Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change effects and could lose up to 30% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2050. Thus, the region must adopt green energy to reduce emissions by 10% by 2030 to prevent global warming effects harming its countries.
Some steps to take include:
- Ensuring an energy transition to clean power sources
- Encouraging low-carbon mobility
- Developing local, sustainable manufacturing capabilities
Embracing digitalisation means green technology in Southeast Asia can better manage energy use and collect data on carbon reduction measures. Finally, companies should address emissions in their supply chains and adopt environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies to protect the planet.
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